Flight of the Aries
by okamitaicho
Summary: Labeled as Stargate and Star Wars, really kind of explodes from there as this is a multi-verse story. Fact checked to "work" within each universe.
1. Prolog

**[_Let me start this off by saying "hi" and welcome to a glimpse at the workings of my mind. This story was started three years ago (at the time I was writing this note) and has been worked on sporadically since then. Many improvements have been made in my skill as a writer and the plot, and while the chapters will be sorta short to begin with, they might get a bit longer once I start posting new material, rather than just the older stuff. Sit back and enjoy the show. 8D]_**

**_**_[EDIT as of 9/13/2013: I am doing a lot of small touch ups, for ease of reading mostly, and will /try/ not to make any plot impacting changes)_**_**

_Flight of the Aries_

_Prolog_

Location: a living room in West Canada...  
>With the Xbox sound on high, two young boys (men if you asked them), Alex and Bob are just finishing playing a game.<br>"Man, it's boring." Alex mumbles as he lets out a sigh. Bob yawns and says "Yeah, I wish something would happen." as he puts the controller down and gets up to move around, he looks over to his long time friend surfing the web. "Hey Alex, anything fun happening on Moddb?"  
>"Nah, even Sensou is being quiet...that worries me, actually." As light fills the room and his eyes droop to half mast and mumbles "Why do I think he has something to do with this?" Any reply from Bob is cut off as they both disappear along with the light.<p>

Location: a bedroom in South Africa...  
>SoE logs off his computer and picks up his guitar. "Hit my data cap for the month, time to play some music..." The same light fills the room. He looks up and lets out a chuckle, "Looks like he got it to work, took him long enough. Oops, can't forget this!" He manages to reach his pick just as he and the light vanish.<p>

Location: a bedroom in England...  
>Caine slides into his chair, rubs his hands together, and says "Dust time...or should I do some lag training on halo...hmmm." The light appears. "Come on man! Now?" Grabbing a J20 and waits to beam out... Then starts to reach for his iPod, but is not quick enough. "Hold on just let me get my...!"<p>

Location: a bedroom in East Canada...  
>As Piper closes a tab in her browser, her face wrinkles in disgust, "Oh no, either he's back or most of Croatia needs therapy..." Her computer flickers as the light starts to fill the room. "WHAT ON EARTH?" she yells, but even if there was anyone there to answer her, she is gone before they would be able to...<p>

Location: a paintball field in Argentina...  
>With bursts of CO2, paintballs fly past players running in often futile attempts to dodge. A twenty something male, Mularac, leads three of his team mates forward, but the ground around him begins to glow, little spiders of static jump from his clothes to the ground. The game stops as everyone stares at the new star that seems to be growing before them, then Mularac and the glow disappear...<p>

Location: a game room in south east USA...  
>A florida man, Af is sitting in his chair, playing a game...he takes a drink of soda...looks at his watch, remembers his ramen will be done soon. A few moments later, checks it again, his raman still won't be done for about a minute. "I feel like I am missing out on something..." He shrugs and unpauses his game.<p> 


	2. Chapter 1

**[_Small side note I should have mentioned with the last one, all the people in this, so far, are based of real people I knew at the time, as this started as kinda ..one long inside joke. Hopefully that doesn't leave you too confused.]_**

_Chapter One_

Location: a ship in high orbit...  
>Warren leans forward in the command chair with a deep sigh, then looks over at his sister who is sitting at one of the consoles to his right.<br>"Kara, did you even push the button?"  
>"Yes! It just takes a bit to 'port them all up here. Seven people scattered across the Earth is not an easy job, and this automation code you wrote doesn't do anything good for the teleport speed, let me tell ya. HELPED write I should say."<br>Warren stands up to get a drink and when he returns with his soda, he pops the tab and points the finger at Kara.  
>"Could you have done it without Caine and a room full of other Techs at Stargate Command?"<br>She shakes her head.  
>"Ha, thought not."<br>A light fills the bridge, then seven wide-eyed gamers appear. Warren seems ready to say something but stops, loosing his normal smile. Taking a firm stance, making a broad sweeping motion with his hand, he announces "Welcome... To the Aries.."After a moment of stares, he breaks down laughing "Shatner? Come on, anyone?... Sorry, I had to do that. ANYWAY, Kara, is everyone here?"

She gets an evil grins, then says in a sing-song voice.  
>"All but one."<br>Her hand hovers over a button. As the seven freaked out gamers stand there, staring at their new surroundings and twitching, Warren dives at Kara screaming, "NO!"  
>He falls on his face as the others point and laugh, suddenly in a daze but it passes as quick as it came while SoE and Caine help him up, and he walks over to where the girls are now standing. The boys look over to see on the girls' faces the kind of grin that sends a chill up and down a man's spine. All the men in the room say in one voice,"What'd you do?"<p>

Both of the girls point at a screen showing a very dazed looking Af sitting in a chair holding an Xbox controller. Kara waves a hand to calm her brother down.  
>"Don't worry, he's locked in a room for now."<br>Warren glances at the control panel."Which room?"  
>Kara looks down "The weapons con..." She goes bug-eyed and slams a button, Af vanishes and then appears on a new screen "...the mess hall." Alex smiles, nodding, "smart move. So...why'd you beam him up?"<br>Kara gets that grin again,"For Warren to play with."  
>Warren thinks for a moment then gets a grin of his own "Hey guys, he has no idea what's going on or who's behind it...anyone thinking what I am thinking? ...Nah, that'd be too evil. Let's head to the mess hall, say 'Hi' to Af and get some food and then I'll tell you why you're all here."<p>

Location: The Aries mess hall...  
>While gathered around the captain's table, everyone enjoying the meal and talking about the fun they have had in the past online and the fun they should have in the future, even though most have never met face to face before today.<br>Captain Wolfe stands up, and puts his hands in the air to get everyone to quiet down so he can speak.  
>"Now, I know you're all having fun, but there is something we need to talk about. The reason you are here."<br>After walking over to a screen set in the wall and pulling up an file, a dark swirling mass appears on the screen.  
>"This is a rift in space time continuum. It is outside of our galaxy, near the edge of the Pegasus galaxy. We are not sure how it opened or where it leads, and that's where we come in. SGC and their nanny, the Internation Oversight Advisory, want it scanned, they have this ship, but no crew for it. Caine..." He points to the amazingly young boy next to him, "...and I helped program for this ship, so I said we'd make the run with a few coders we know. That way we can make changes on the fly as needed. The algorithyms we are testing are some automation updates to make it so a ship's whole crew can leave in fighters or whatever and the ship will jump away, and jump back when called. Anyone want to come?"<br>The hands of everyone in the room fling up too fast to see.  
>"Good! Your families will be told you're joining a Think Tank in... Texas, and you will be beamed down to get some of your clothes, computers, games, say goodbye and the like. Not sure how long this trip will take, but flying there will take about 2 weeks. Well, you'll beam down in a bit, and the ship will...er...um..sail? In the morning. See you then."<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two_

Location: The Aries...  
>The Captain walks onto the bridge of his new ship with some coffee and stares at the earth below, maybe for the last time before they head out. Kara soon joins him and as she sits down, breaks the silence, "SoE is asleep, trying to get used to ship time, he's ahead of it by 8 hours. Caine's going to sleep deprive himself to being in sync because he's only ahead of it by 6 hours, he's unpacking his stuff right now, and he said he'd come up here after."<br>Warren takes a sip, "Alex and Bob should be ready to beam up soon. After them it's Piper then Af, with Mularac being the last. I'm going to my room for a bit I think, maybe take one of the fighters out for a ride."  
>As he leaves the bridge, she yells down the hall at him,"Don't break it, okay!?"<br>"I'll try not to!" He yells back.  
>Caine comes out of nowhere, bolting past him, turns and slides to a halt in front of Warren.<br>"Say, you going to fly some?"  
>"Yea,"<br>"Can I come?"  
>"Why?"<br>"To test the 'Wing Man' program... Say... with a fly-by past the moon."  
>"The what now?"<br>"It is a program I wrote based on the 'Follow' program the Aries has. It makes it so an un-manned '302 can fly in formation with a pilot. May try to code a targeting program so it can acquire targets and fire too."  
>"Sure. Grab an O2 suit."<br>Once in the hangar, Warren and Caine each start a 302, but Caine gets in the rear seat of the former's fighter. Warren closes the cockpit and looks back at Caine. "You ready?"  
>"Yea!"<br>"Tower, this is Wolf 1, do you copy? Need Hangar bay two's doors open."  
>The radio crackles to life, "I copy, Wolf 1, Bay door two opening. Caine with you?"<br>"Roger, we're taking Wolf 2 out for auto-pilot testing."  
>"All right, I'll buzz you when they're all here and ready to go. Over and out."<br>Wolf 1 rockets out of the hanger with 2 quickly following suit and begin to fly around the Aries. Using a slow lazy orbit, Caine look at what will be his home in the coming weeks, and observes "Odd to think we are flying around in space..."  
>"Sure is... Seems so strange and yet.. Not? Anywhosy...shall we have some fun?" Warren says through a grin as he pulls back on the joystick, putting the ship through a flip before he even gets an answer.<br>"Caine, let's see how your program holds up. Start it on a port low follow formation."  
>"Done."<br>Warren flies around Aries quicker this time with Wolf 2 off his port wing, then he flies past the bridge, and just as he heads for the moon the radio comes back on,  
>"Wolf 1, you do that again, and 'Tower' will kick you...HARD."<br>As Caine snickers in the back, Warren replies, "I was just playing around, sorry."  
>Once over the moon, they decide to visit the landing sites of the Apollo missions. Just past the Apollo 11 site, Wolf 2 starts to fly oddly, then does a barrel roll over to the starboard of the manned Wolf fighter. Just as Warren begins freaks out, Caine taps him on the shoulder.<br>"Did I scare you?"  
>"DID YOU DO THAT?"<br>"Yea," Caine says with a hint of a chuckle in his voice. "I am remote flying it from my controls on this ship. Kinda like playing a video game really."  
>Without warning, an Al'kesh decloaks, forcing Wolf 1 and 2 to pull apart. The Taur'i fighters loop around and come in for an attack run, but see the SGC logo next to a Wolf icon. Piper's voice comes over the radio with a twisted giggle,"This is Wolf 11, nice moves 1 and 2. Everyone got all their stuff to the Aries and all but Kara and SoE are on the Wolf 11 with me. So...Let's get back to the hanger and make our way."<br>Kara joins in, "Wolves, this is Tower, come back to the den, doors are opening as we speak."  
>Warren pipes up, "Alright everybody, let's head home."<br>As they are most of the way back, Kara comes back on over the radio,  
>"Wolf pack, this is tower, the hangar doors just closed and I have no idea why... Stand by."<br>A gasp comes over the speakers, "Warren, the "call" program just came online, and I just got locked out of navigation."  
>Anything she said after that was cut off by the Aries opening a hyperspace window and jumping away.<p>

The crew is shocked to see their ship, friends and possessions fly away, and they all fear for the two left on the ship, as no one knows who called the ship or where they called it too. Bob is the first to say something, voice cracking, "Who.. wrote.. the call program?"  
>Caine replies "Warren and me...and a room full of other coders at SGC."<br>"What exactly does it do?"  
>"Basically, when the program comes on line, gets the call if you will, the Nav AI kicks in and it jumps to hyperspace. When it arrives at its destination, it sends a sub-space signal to the Wolf squadron Nav computers."<br>Mularac chimes in, "So can't we just wait for it to tell us where it is?"  
>Warren sighs "Not much else we can do. Kara's a smart girl, she'll think of something."<p>

Meanwhile, back aboard the Aries, Kara knocks on SoE's door. "Wake up and get dressed, something has gone wrong."  
>SoE opens the door, fully dressed aside from an undone belt buckle, but still rubbing his eyes,"What's up?"<br>"Someone or thing just called the Aries, locking us out of navigation and making it jump to hyperspace."  
>Suddenly more awake, SoE starts to run down the hall, pants drooping till he fixes his belt, Kara calls after him. "Where are you going?"<br>"The armory." He says, like it is the only place he could possibly be going.  
>When Kara catches up to him, he is in the back of the armory and has already covered some of the front of a vest he put on with various types of grenades, strapped a Zat to each leg, and is picking up a M-60 machine gun. Kara straps a Zat to her right leg, and grabs a P90. He pounds over to her, his steps made heavier by all the weapons, and asks "What now?" with a smirk on his face. She looks at all the equipment he is wearing, hints of terror and awe on her face, "I guess we head to engineering, see if we can stop the ship." He nods and breaks into a run, the earlier heavy steps either having been acting or he is just forcing himself to run with all that extra weight.<br>Upon reaching engineering, SoE drops onto a chair, its piston moaning under his weight, and Kara begins to tap away on one of the consoles. About twenty minutes later, the ship drops out of hyper space. SoE walks over and pats her on the back.  
>"Good job, thought it would take longer."<br>She turns around with a look of horror on her face.  
>"It would have...if I was the one that stopped it."<br>They look out a window to see three Ha'taks and a moon.  
>"Quick..." She says as she runs out of the room with SoE plodding behind her, "...we have to get to Wolf 12 in the hangar, it's a puddle jumper. We can hide in it with it cloaked, and try to contact the rest of the Crew."<p>

**Back on the Wolf 11**  
>Alex, Bob and Caine talk over one channel of the radio about ways to get the ship to drop out of hyperspace, and Mularac, Af, Piper and Warren talk on another channel about how to get the ship back when it does. The screens on the ships flicker to life at once, displaying "Aries destination reached, open bay doors?" Everyone stares for a moment, the meaning of the message not having sunk in yet. Caine manages to form a statement first, "It dropped out!"<br>Mularac runs to a console to save the data the homing signal is sending to the Nav computer, Just as he finishes, the signal disappears.  
>"Did I do that?"<br>Alex looks over at the console,"No, the signal is just...gone."  
>Piper starts to set up for the jump to the Aries, but Warren's voice stops her,<br>"It was jammed. That means it got where it was going, and whoever called it tried to keep it from telling us where it is. You guys in the Wolf 11, start a jump to the rim of that system, we'll get 1 and 2 in close to you and use your Hyperspace window. Once we stop, Caine and I will break off, and then you jump in close to the Aries, and cloak. Use the ring transporter to get to the ship, find Kara and SoE, then take back the ship. Maybe if you have time, try using the ship's weapons to take out any ships around Aries. Once you're onboard, Caine and I will jump in and give the enemies in space something to think about."  
>"Aye aye captain" replies Af with a mock salute.<br>The Nav computers calculate the jump as the ships form a tight V, then open a window and jump...


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three_

Out on the rim of a star system, three ships appear.  
>The radio crackles with the voice of the male Wolfe, "Wolf 11, this is 1, do you copy?"<br>Mularac comes on the line, "Wolf 1, we hear you loud and clear, what's up?"  
>"Caine and I came up with something on the way here. If we expanded all three ships' shields, and pumped O2 into the shield bubble, Caine could move over to Wolf 2 and he could fly better that way. Even if the shields fail, him and I have O2 suits on. We just want the bubble so we won't lose as much air from the fighters and make sure no stray microastroids turn him into swiss cheese that swears in Queen's english."<br>Those on the Al'kesh stare at the speaker, and Af slides into a control chair after shoving past the human statues.  
>"All right, form up" he states as he expands the shields. As the three orbs on the screen merge, Caine unbuckles the seat belt he had on, and seals his O2 suit's helmet. Once the bubble has fully linked, Warren opens the cockpit and moves Wolf 1 close over the top of Wolf 2, with his ship flipped over, so the ships are facing each other cockpit to cockpit. Just as they are passing, Caine jumps out of Wolf 1 and gently floats to Wolf 2.<br>"This is SO epic!" he calls out over the radio, then crawls into Wolf 2, and seals the hatch. "Wolf 2 online."  
>Warren static punctuated voice sounds as his own hatch closes, "Good to hear. Wolf 11, you are clear for jump."<br>The Al'kesh jumps, and the 302's form up to ready for their jump.  
>In the hangar of the Aries, Wolf 12 sits quietly, invisible to all but the best scanners. Inside, SoE is camped out on the floor, M-60 pointed at the rear hatch of the jumper and Kara reads data scrolling on a display. The subspace comm channel hums for a moment, then Piper's voice is heard.<br>"Wolves 1 and 2, this is 11, away team is on the Aries, you are clear for your part."  
>"Roger that 11, try not to get hit by stray shots, kay?"<br>"I copy Wolf 1, see you back on the ship."  
>Kara slams the comm switch, "Wolf pack, this is 12, can you hear me?"<br>A mass of hoots and other sounds of joy tells her they can.  
>"Good, SoE and I are in the cloaked jumper, so we're safe for now."<br>Her brother is the first to speak,"Alright, the away team is onboard. Their radios are on channel 7, you should be able to reach them that way."  
>SoE grabs a walkie-talkie, and presses the talk button, "Away team, this Wolf 12, where are you?"<br>"Just got Zats from the armory and we are headed to the bridge." Mularac replies.  
>SoE drops the M-60, slams the hatch switch, grabs a Zat in each hand and runs out the open door.<br>Out in space, the 302's are making attack runs on the Ha'taks, as no Death Gliders have appeared, using short range hyper space jumps to further confuse the gunners on the enemy ships.  
>Once the away team nears the bridge, they start to hear weapons fire, and see SoE laying on the floor, a bit of blood on his arm where a bullet grazed him.<br>"Are you ok?" asks Bob.  
>The South African shrugs, "More or less. Took out 6 of them before you got here."<br>Alex pokes his head out around the corner, and is greeted by a few burst of rounds, but he pulled back quick enough not to be hit. "Hey SoE..." he asks. "Got any flash bangs on that weapons cache you call a vest?"  
>SoE nods and grins, then throws one onto the bridge. The team covers their ears and once they see the flash shine on the wall, they charge in, firing zats at the would-be highjackers.<br>In space, Caine and Warren just do an air show, knowing they are too hard to hit and having run out of missiles. The Aries begins to move and lashes out with its railguns and energy beams, destroying two of the Ha'taks before even taking a hit.  
>"Wolf squadron, this is Tower, bay doors are open. You may want to land before we jump...just saying..."<br>Wolves 1, 2, and 11 land just as the last Ha'tak is ripped apart.  
>Warren's voice is heard on the radio,<br>"Head for the Alpha site."  
>The bay doors close as the ship opens a window and jumps...<p>

About a day later, the ship has made it to the Alpha site, and unloaded the prisoners they captured in taking back the bridge. Once again, they are all in the mess hall, eating and telling stories.  
>Mularac puts down his fork and thinks for a moment,<br>"So...who tried to take this ship anyways?"  
>Caine responds, "looks like it was the Lucian Alliance. They heard about the Aries having advanced programing, so they wanted it. SGC is still unsure as to where the leak was, but they think we handled it well, and want us to keep heading for the rift."<br>Warren stands up to clean up his dishes, "That settles it, we keep going. Anyone that wants to stay, speak up."  
>Nothing is heard but the hum of the ship.<br>"Alright then, let's move out."  
>Back on the bridge, Wolfe siblings and their English friend sit at their stations. Kara is checking various data readouts, Caine is reworking bits of programs, with the last of them flying with a manual feedback joystick, maneuvering a ship the size of a cruise liner with the speed of a fighter and his ever present smirk.<br>"Caine, open the hyperspace window please."  
>"Yes sir." he says with a smile on his face.<br>The ship enters the window and jumps away...


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four_

_Several days later, closer to the anomaly_

Piper now stays in the hangar most of the time, and took such a liking to the Al'kesh that she doesn't let anyone in it unless she is with them. She even going so far as to refer to it as her "baby."  
>SoE has taken over the armory and set up a shooting range in one of the hangars, using a small force field as a backdrop and empty crates and barrels as targets.<br>Alex, and Bob have spent a lot of time in the flight sims, earning themselves the nickname of "Flyboys," and Alex couldn't be happier about being called his own screen name. They also spar and use the range, kind of making them the main military force on the ship.  
>Mularac has read most of the books databases on ship about health care, making him the effective chief medical officer, taking care of the crew when they are wounded while at work or play.<br>Warren and Kara have made modifications all around the ship, including installing one of the first Tau'ri made ZPMs, which they got at the Alpha site, and replacing Wolf 2's rear seat with a second computer core.  
>Af claimed the mess hall, and will slap anyone that tries to enter his kitchen.<br>Caine moves around the Aries, both inside and outside of the walls, learning about its systems and programming new ways to use them. He also hid Wolf 3 away in his "workshop," a cargo room attached to the hangar.

Warren and Kara were called to the workshop one evening, and when they get there, they knock on the door.  
>"It's open." Is heard, though muffled by the heavy steel.<br>They walked in to see stacks of spare circuit boards and cables. Caine seems to dig his way out of one of the piles, and stands in the middle of the room by a computer with a look of pure joy on his face.  
>"Guys, there is someone I want you to meet. Felix, say hi."<br>A voice like Caine's, but younger starts to speak from the computer,  
>"Hi Captain, Hi Kara, it's nice to finally meet you"<br>Warren and Kara stare at Caine, then each other, Caine again, "Felix," then back to Caine.  
>He holds up both hands to stop them before they even ask, "He is a upgrade to the ship's automation code, and will make it full AI. All these..." He points at the stacks. "...are memory banks and data storage. Felix was built for the main computer core, so when he is in this set up, he has the mind of a young child. Like that of a six year old, hence, him sounding like one. But, trust me, when he has the full computing power of the main core, he could run the ship by himself."<br>Before the XO and Captain can say anything, Felix starts to beg, "Please! I can do it! Really! You can even lock me out of most of the systems till you trust me. Please! I have been online in this little room, in this little computer for days, please let me go play."  
>The Captain holds up a finger,"Fine, but keep 'him' out of navigation, weapons, and anything to do with life support for now. And Felix, don't talk to anyone till after we are all in the mess hall, and I say to, okay? Don't need people getting scared."<br>As Caine plugs the computer into the ship's data network and starts to upload Felix, Warren walks over to a panel on the wall and presses a button,  
>"All crew report to the mess hall for a meeting, that is all."<br>The three walk out of the room, headed for the mess hall...

When the three reach the mess, everyone else is already seated, with a look of horror on their faces, but the mood lightens when they see the smiles on the three that just entered the room.  
>Warren doesn't waste any time, "Ladies...er...Lady..and Gentlemen, meet Felix..."<br>After a moment of silence, all but Kara and Caine stare at Warren like he is a mad man. Just as he is about to explain, Felix's voice comes out of the PA system, still not sounding much older like Caine said he would.  
>"Sorry Captain, I was checking out the ship, it's nice to be out of that little room. Just so you know, one of Wolf 1's missiles is going to fall off the hardpoint if anyone bumps it even just a bit. Someone didn't mount it right. Anyway, nice to finally meet you all. By the way, who flies the Al'kesh?"<br>Piper jumps up,  
>"Is there something wrong with my baby? Who did it!? WHAT'D THEY DO!?"<br>"Nothing, it's just parked on Wolf 7's power cable."  
>She sits back down, looking sheepish, "Oh..."<br>Caine clears his throat, "Felix is an AI made to run Aries. Though he may sound very young, he could run the whole ship alone. Weapons, navigation, all of it..." He looks at Warren "...Once he is given access that is."  
>"Should we let him try?" Asks the Captain, turning to the crew.<br>A mix of nods and shrugs all around the table.  
>"Right then, Caine, let him."<br>Caine walks to a console and taps a few keys. After he hits the last one, the lights in the room go out, only the glow of hyperspace letting them see each other. The lights return,  
>"Just kidding!" is heard over the PA speakers, those in the console, and the radios most of the crew is wearing.<br>"Felix!" yells Kara.  
>"Sorry..."<br>Warren rubs his forehead,  
>"I think that is enough 'fun' for the night, time for bed everyone. Felix, you... have the bridge."<br>"Aye aye Capin', you can trust me" he replies, as his voice seems to move down the hall...

Warren wakes up, and starts to put his day clothes to check the bridge, but remembers Felix, and for lack of a reason, shrugs, clearing his throat.  
>"Morning Felix. How was your first night?"<br>An anime-style face appears on the screen of his computer, "Fun! How'd you sleep?"  
>Warren drops into his chair and rubs his eyes, unsure if he is awake or still dreaming. Or perhaps even having a nightmare. "Good, I guess. Why was it fun?"<br>"Cuz there was so much to do! I checked out all the ship's systems, all green by the way, ran analysis on all the fighters, even ran virus scans on all the PC's on the network. And then..." the face on screen hangs its head. "...Watched all the anime, TV shows, and movies I could find. Sorry." After a moment, he perks up again. "Alex even was awake for a bit, so him and I did flight sims for a while. Don't ask him about it though, I don't think he liked me beating him so much." he looks off screen, then looks back. "Kara's up, I am going to go say hi." He gets up and runs off screen, then returns and taps something at the bottom of the frame, making the screen shut off. Warren's eye twitches and he decides to get some coffee...

Now dressed and ready for the day, Kara walks to her bedroom door. Just before she reaches it, she hears someone knock...from her computer.  
>"May I come in?"<br>Kara has a look of curiosity on her face, "Yes?"  
>The computers screen comes on showing Anime Felix facing away from the screen. "Can I look?"<br>"Would I let anyone in if they couldn't?"  
>"True" he says as he turns around, the web cam on her computer coming online and turning to face her.<br>She now see his full anime face.  
>"When do you get that?"<br>"Last night. I was watch anime and stuff and I saw how important a face is conveying meaning. I used an anime face because it can show more emotion than a normal face. I also made an anime version of the ship in VR, so if anime me is moving around, like going screen to screen in the real world, it's because I am really moving focus around the ship. When in this form, I can only be in one place at a time. I programmed a bunch of limiters into my core processes to replicate the single presence of a living being."  
>The only reply she can muster is a single word, "Wow..."<br>Felix reaches down and picks up a piece of paper, then sticks it to her screen, and it changes into a text document she can read and scroll around on.  
>"These are the reports from last night's scans. Most of the crew is down in the mess for breakfast, so I am headin' down there. Want me to order you something?"<br>Kara rubs her head, still getting used to the idea of a seven year old that's really a three day old AI that runs the ship.  
>"Coffee. Today deserves coffee."<br>"Okay, see you down there." he says as his voice fades, like he is moving down the hall...

As Warren steps out of his room, so does Kara. They look up and they both see the same blank gaze of wonderment on the each other. The former blinks a few times,  
>"You saw Felix too I take it?"<br>"Yea..."  
>"Was he.."<br>"Yup...  
>"Need coffee?"<br>"Oh yes..."  
>She looks down the hall, rubs her head and gets a twitchy smile, giggling in a crazed manner<br>"He already asked if I wanted some. I think I have a cup waiting for me in the mess."  
>About half way there, Caine stumbles out of his room and into their path, he sees them and asks<br>"Did you guys..."  
>"Yea..." they both say at the same time, nudging the younger boy alone gently to the much needed caffeine.<br>Once in the mess, they see everyone eating...including Felix eating rice cakes in his VR world.  
>"That's going to take some getting used to."<br>"Yea..."  
>After eating, SoE stands up and rubs his healing wound, "I am heading to the range, any takers?"<br>Felix puts down his food on screen and raises his hand but lowers it.  
>"Kara? Could you watch the bridge? Please?"<br>"Er... Okay? Have fun."  
>SoE walks down the hall as Felix runs off screen.<p>

**[what do you think so far? any good? bad? ugly? wait what... o_o …..*knits eyebrows and goes back to writing*]**


	6. Chapter 5

**[Pretty short one, this time around..]**

_Chapter Five_

In the shooting range, SoE has worked out how to use a Asgard hologram device to make as many targets in whatever shape he pleases and uses his "Weapon of the day" to hit them all in as little time he can, than sets them up again to see if he can beat his own time. Today he is just using standard round targets and a 7.62mm bolt action sniper rifle, he walks over to the controls and makes the targets appear about 20 meters away, than lies down in the prone position for better aim. After a deep breath, he lightly presses the trigger and fires, and moves his sight over to the next target, cycling the bolt as he does so. Shortly after he hits the last target, his radio crackles,  
>"SoE, you there?"<br>"Yea Mularac, I'm down in the shooting range. What's up?"  
>"I am up here on the bridge with Warren, Kara and some of the others. They want Felix up here, but he didn't respond to them when they called and they thought maybe he was down there and just not listening to them because he wants to watch you."<br>"He's the ship's AI, can he do that?"  
>"Honestly, no one is sure, we're all kinda new to this whole AI thing. Anyways, thought we'd check. See ya for lunch."<br>"Alright, see ya."  
>He starts to retrain his sights on the targets, but is shocked by the fact they are now the faces of main characters from video games, so he looks over to the controls, only to be shocked again as he sees some creature running through the shadows along the wall, away from the console and into an air shaft.<br>He reaches up and hits the talk button on his comm,  
>"Bridge, this is SoE...I think we may have have a problem..."<p>

Up on the bridge, Warren leans toward the speaker, "Problem?"  
>"Yea...like...I just saw... I guess a creature playing with my target generator."<br>"Creature?"  
>"Not sure what it was, but it was humanoid and small. It was in the shadows, so I didn't get a good look at it."<br>"Where'd it go?"  
>"Air shaft."<br>A moan is heard from Alex, "Don't they always?"  
>Piper plops into a chair, crossing her legs at the ankle and popping some snack into her mouth, "Seems like."<br>Warren holds up a hand to quiet them down, "SoE, we'll just have Felix scan for it. Felix, need you to scan the air system."  
>Nothing.<br>"Felix?" He taps the talk switch on his radio, "Caine, report to the computer core room when able." He taps it again, "Kara, can you come too?"  
>"Sure."<br>When they get to the computer core, they Caine is already at the main terminal, and judging by the wrappers and cans, has been there for some time. He looks up with bloodshot eyes,  
>"He's gone."<p>

**"Gone?"**  
>Kara and Warren say at the same time. Caine nods,<br>"Yes, gone. And, near as I can tell, there is something else in the central computer, not sure what it is. All I know is it's not Felix, and smart. I am trying to reach it's core files, see if I can find out anything..."  
>After a few moments, the screen pops up "Access Denied" and then the ship drops out of hyperspace, light-years from anything. Caine stands up with his hands in the air, "Didn't do it."<br>Then the screen explodes, showering Caine with sparks, he shields his face with his arms, but they still get burned. All the lights on the ship go out, leaving only E lights at run on battery power.  
>Kara turns on her mic,<br>"Get Mularac down here with a Med kit, we also need flashlights in engineering and get SoE to bring some of his 'toys.' Well, have everyone get a Zat, we have no idea what we are dealing with here."  
>Mularac soon arrives while the others plan and starts to tend to Caine, "He'll be fine, it's only about as bad as a sunburn, you guys go find out what's going on."<br>Kara and Warren start to run, but Kara taps him on the shoulder,  
>"I am heading to the bridge to keep tabs on things from there."<br>She heads down another hall and Warren is joined by Piper, Alex, SoE, and Bob soon after. They walk into the room as they swing their flashlights around, bathing the room in light.  
>A clicking noise is heard from the far side of the room and they all point the lights at it, just in time to see something move. Alex, Bob, and SoE all fire their Zats, but the thing runs past them, now making a noise like a screaming child. They all chase it, never getting a good chance to fire, as it runs through the ship. It leads them to the bridge and it jumps on Kara, still making that sound, but not as loud.<br>Her chest feels damp, and she forces herself to look down, then she sees it really is a screaming child, but it's head is turned down, dripping the tears that made her shirt wet. It turns it's head up to look at her, showing that it's a young boy in a state of pure terror,  
>"KARA, WHY DID THEY SHOOT AT ME?!"<br>She stares back at him in shock, now knowing that voice,  
>"FELIX?!"<p>

**{ .u. now you know why. ..There was more of a cliff hanger here the first time around.]**


	7. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six _

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break the ship, I'm sorry..." Felix sobs out as he shakes his head back and forth on Kara's shoulder. She starts to rub the back of his head, "It's ok, just help us fix it and tell us what happened."  
>He wipes his eyes and sniffles a bit, and then looks over at the rest of the crew, who are still in shock.<br>"I found designs for Replicater blocks, and used the teleporter to generate one, and had it build more using metal from the crates SoE used to use for targets, since they were shot to Swiss cheese anyway. After that, I made an AI to run the ship while I was...doing other things"  
>Caine looks up from the bandages on his arms, "That thing in the core?"<br>"Yup, and after I got to play a bit, I was going to tell you."  
>Bob speaks up, "Play? You mean play with our heads?"<br>The "boy" nods. "Yup, he's like Caine after all."  
>Much to everyone's surprise, Felix jumps up and gets a cup of water, takes a drink, and goes back to explaining, "Hmm, I like water. Anyways, the AI failed, making the ship drop out of hyperspace and shutting off the lights. Whatever happened also cut off my link to the computer core, so I had to use a terminal and I thought you guys would find me in engineering and then I would tell you. BUT NO!" He points a finger accusingly, "You shot at me!"<br>SoE hides his Zat as him and the others hang their heads. Piper smacks Warren, SoE, and the Flyboys in turn, and they say in one voice, "Sorry Felix."  
>The young replicator moves over to a workstation and types for a moment, bringing the lights back on, then he stops and sits on the floor with his eyes closed.<br>"Link reestablished, lower AI removed."  
>Warren just rubs his temples, "Well...it's been a full day...I think we all need rest. Off to bed, I'll take first watch, I can't sleep."<br>As the crew files off the bridge, Felix pokes Warren's arm, "Where do I sleep?"  
>"Right...guess you need a bed now, don't you? Wait, do you?"<br>"I want one."  
>"Alright, jump us back into hyperspace, and I'll help you find something."<br>Felix closes his eyes for a moment, and the ship jumps as they walk off the bridge...

After another week of hyperspace flight, everyone is used to Felix, both as person, and as part of the crew. On the day they are scheduled to drop out of hyperspace near the rift, Alex takes over the kitchen and makes a celebratory meal with pasta and other dishes. They all sit together enjoying the food and company, almost more like a family than an oddball crew of gamers.

Piper looks over at Felix, "You never did tell us why you eat and drink now, and I for one want to know."  
>"Simple, I wanted to try food. Plus, I can even use some of the matter that I get from food to maintain my replicator cells, and I do so while 'sleeping' at which point I am not really doing much besides software stuff. Backing up my data, doing the stuff I was programed for, that kind of thing." Af brings out a large roasted chicken, starts to cut it for everyone, "Now this, I made. I will not be out done by a fighter pilot. Hope you guys like it."<br>Felix eats some and smiles from his new found love of food, shoveling pasta in and stops for a moment with noodles still hanging out of his mouth, "Ship's leaving hyperspace now."  
>The glow of hyperspace gives way to the dim pin point lights of millions of stars, and the crew goes back to eating. Felix starts to choke, and spits out his food, "Wraith! A hive! And two cruisers!" The crew jumps up and runs for their combat posts. All but Mularac, Kara, and Felix head for the hangar while Felix brings shields up and starts to fire. Mularac picks him up so he can focus on fighting while the three run to the bridge. Once they are at the bridge, he puts the program turned boy in a chair and sits in his own, as the XO drops into the seat with manual flight control.<br>"Felix, you take the guns, Mularac will monitor the ship's systems and the battlefield, and I'll fly."  
>The speakers of the radio click on with some static, "Tower, this is Wolf 1, do you copy?"<br>Mularac taps the comm switch, "This is tower. Opening hangar doors, you are clear for launch when ready."  
>Six F-302's and the Al'kesh fly out of the hangar and begin to fight off Wraith Darts. The Aries gets close to one of the cruisers and rips it apart in one pass, while the Wolf squadron mops up its fighters. Unknown to the crew of the Aries, a Dart manages to land in one of the BC-304's hangar. All the fire from Wraith guns begins to take its toll on the Aries, even with the ZPM, and it sweeps in to finish the other cruiser.<p>

Outside, in the cold of deep space, the Wolves have their hands full fighting the seemingly endless stream of Darts.  
>Alex and Bob are ripping through the ranks, flying close and blasting anything in the way. SoE and Af are mostly split up, fly near each other now and again to pick a Dart of the other's trail. Piper is firing on Darts and the larger ships alike, with Warren and Caine covering her.<br>"Wolf 1, this is 11, got an inbound flight of three Darts coming in hot, may want to do something about them."  
>"Roger, lining up."<br>Just as Wolf 1 fires, a beam from the Aries blasts the Darts apart on the way to the cruiser. "Whoo, thanks tower."  
>"No problem, but SoE and Af need some help. Wolf 5 and 6 are just about out of ammo."<br>"Alright, Wolf 2 and 11, form up."  
>A pair of clicks over the comm channel tells him they heard. The trio blast their way over to Wolf 5 and 6, getting a couple sighs of relief from their squad mates.<br>"Wolves, this is Tower, fly above the line of fire, we are going take out that last cruiser, then do something about the hive."  
>"Alright Wolves, you heard her, the kid with all the guns is going to clean up this mess, scatter."<br>Six clicks this time.  
>"Tower, you are go for salvo."<br>All of the Aries' weapons train on the cruiser, firing a rain of accelerated mass from the rail guns and beams of blue energy.

The Aries flies through the still burning wreckage of the second cruiser, the flames using up the last of the atmosphere on it.  
>On the other side, it is greeted by a wave of energy weapons from the Wraith, the hive now firing recklessly, even blasting some of its' own fighters.<br>Wolf 5 and 6 are heading back to the ship, their fighters out of ammunition, but the rest of the Wolves fight on.  
>"Tower, this is 2, why not beam a GateBuster on to the hive?"<br>"This is 1, I say we do it. All Wolves, head for the hangers. Don't want to risk being in the blast."  
>On the bridge, Felix is using his link with the ship to prepare a nuke for beaming, but he hears heavy boots coming down the hall, he turns his head just in time to see a Wraith fire a stun beam at Kara. She drops to the ground, and something in Felix snaps. Mularac jumps up to check on Kara, finding her to be just knocked out, and is shocked to see Felix's body morph into that of a twenty year old. In a voice fitting his new body, he says "You hurt Kara. You will never hurt anyone ever again." He runs across the room, taking a stun blast mid stride, and slams the Wraith into the wall, the alien drops to the floor.<p>

"Tower, we are on board, you can blast them now."  
>Felix's left eye just twitches, and the Wraith beams away, probably going with the nuke. "Done and done."<br>"Tower, this is 4, who was that?"  
>Felix changes back to his normal form, and runs to be with Kara, curling over her with his head to her chest as if to hear her heart beat, despite his sensors having already told him she's fine.<br>The hive explodes section by section and flies apart, and when the shock wave from the blast reaches the rift, the anomaly seems to change shape and color, destabilizing. As Warren and rest get to the bridge, they see what is happening out the forward windows. The rift opens up, looking more and more like a hyperspace window  
>"Felix, get us out of here!"<br>The Aries starts to move and opens a window, but is sucked backward into the rift...

_**[BOOOhahahhahHAhHAhaHhaha, I have sucked up some of your life now, and you KNOW you want more! *evil laugh*]**_


	8. Chapter 7

**[9/14/2013 EDIT: This is where I really started to push things, and my writing had improved quite a lot by this point, can't even remember how long since I originally started posting to getting this bit done. Years... I feel old now. Enjoy -OT)**

_Chapter Seven_

Three months later...  
>A blue skinned, red eyed, black haired alien, by the name of Raz'dar'naph, more commonly known as Azdarn, a Chiss, sits in the legendary Mos Eisley cantina. As he surveys the mythical meeting place of the heroes of the New Republic, he wonders if a fate as wonderful as that awaits him after this meeting. He watches the door and bar, waiting for his pilot to show up, praying this crew and ship live up to the rumors about them. Before he even noticed them, two humans sit down at his table, both scaring him and giving him hope that this is the captain, and he really is that good. After looking them up and down, he sees they are just your normal humans, but the taller one begins to speak,<br>"I am Warren Wolfe, this is Caine. I am the captain of the Aries, what do you want us for?"  
>"I got in with some, shall we say, seedy beings, and I want out."<br>"How seedy?"  
>"Enough to make me find you guys."<br>"Oh really? Well, mind telling what you heard about us?"  
>"That you and your ship are the best of the best. Heard your ship can even take out a corvette without much trouble."<br>The shorter one, Caine, snickers at that. "I think your source put things a bit out of proportion..."  
>a Duros and large black and decidedly female Wookiee and walk in, both wearing more weapons than he cares to think about. "Oh no, they found me..." he murmurs.<br>The aliens turn and look right at Azdarn and the others. Warren and Caine stand up, pulling out serpent shaped weapons from their long coats,"Get up, even if you don't decide to hire us, we'll at least get you out of here alive."  
>Beams of weaponized energy fly back and forth, and Caine says something into a comm in his collar. The beings at the bar shield themselves and try to get away, while ones in booths just sit and watch. Blaster fire from the Wookiee hits Azdarn's glass, and the table around it, and one of Caine's shots hit the Duro.<br>"One down."  
>One of the Captain's shots knocks the Wookiee to the floor, but she just shakes the stunning blast off and picks herself up. Once outside, green cylinder shaped ship with tapered ends and small thruster pylons that seem like they just sprout from the sides of the craft lands before them, making Azdarn take a step back, but Caine pushes him into its' now open door. Another human is the pilot, and Warren taps him on the shoulder, "SoE, get us out of here."<br>"Already moving Sir."  
>Getting to orbit faster and smoother than Azdarn is used to, Caine sits in a chair, and taps a comm, "Wolf 11, this is 12, you get all the stuff on Kara's shopping list?"<br>"That I did, decloaking."  
>Another ship fades into existence outside the viewport off to the starboard, this one much is much larger than the one he is in, based around a sloped pyramid, two large wings extend from the base, which curve into the cockpit at the head of the vessel. A very ominous looking turret on its underside rotates to face him, but waves side to side rather rather than take aim.<p>

Azdarn looks at it for a moment longer, and takes a deep gulp. "Is...Is...that the Aries?"  
>The others on this ship and the one on the radio all laugh. The pilot shakes his head and waves a hand dismissively, "Nah, you'll see the Aries in a sec, 11 already called for a pick up."<p>

A purple-blue nebulous looking thing forms nearby and an ever larger ship is expelled from the depths. A long-necked craft with shining metal offset against the depth of black behind it, while the spikes and spires pointing from the hull made it look prickled, gaping maws on either side of the vessel looked ready to swallow lesser ships. As the craft slows, the hazy cloud disappears behind it. A new voice comes over the radio, "Wolves, this is tower, you are clear to land."  
>Once the ships are in the gaping hole like hangar, the door of Wolf 12 opens and a small boy is standing there.<br>"Hey guys, have fun?"  
>"A bit."<br>"Okay. Mom sent me down here to help Piper unload. See ya in the mess."  
>He runs over to the other ship, and the woman coming out of it hands him a few bags, and sticks some candy in his mouth, then pats him on the head, and sends him on his way. SoE, Warren and Caine all grab bags.<br>Warren looks over the top of his stack of bags,  
>"Piper, this Azdarn. Azdarn, Piper." The two shake hands, the Chiss staring at the hanger around him.<br>"Alright, let's head to the mess, get some food, and see how this deal is going to play out."  
>Alarms start to go off, and the PA system comes on, "Captain, seems his old buddies want him back. They want to talk to you, better get up here. They have three corvettes with weapons charged, and sound a bit eager to use them."<br>"On my way." He lets out a sigh. "Never a dull day on this ship."

Azdarn walks in to the bridge right behind Piper and Warren, he looks around, and finds it odd to only see humans. Any thought of his saviors being xenophobic is overshadowed by sight of three Corellian corvettes. He looks over at Warren, who is now facing a screen. The leader of the ships, a Twi'lek with a scar running down the left side of his face, appears on the display.  
>"You have someone that belongs to us, hand him over."<br>"I am the captain of the Aries, who do you work for?"  
>"The one that wants Azdarn back."<br>Warren nods, and SoE taps a button, sending a beam of blue light lancing out to destroy the engines of one of the corvettes.  
>"Wrong answer, who do you work for?"<br>Both Azdarn and the Twi'lek are stunned to see so much power without any warning, and Azdarn realized that what Warren meant by "I think your source put things a bit out of proportion..." is that even three corvettes would be easy as nerf herding.  
>The alien captain seems to regain his ego, "We need him. Dead or alive, you decide. Do you want me to destroy you and your crew?"<br>Warren nods, and this time one of the others on the ship hits a control, a girl that looks a lot like Warren. The alien disappears from the screen in a flash of light, and appears the bridge of the Aries.  
>"Alex, you mind doing the honors?"<br>A human male walks over to the alien and ties him to a chair.  
>Warren asks again with an eerie politeness, "Who... do you work for?"<br>Fully scared and in shock now, the alien blubbers out the answer, "Some Hutt, not even sure what his name is, or why he wants him back, all I know is I am a bounty hunter and the Hutt pays well."  
>"Well then...you're of no use to us. Kara, put him back."<br>Alex cuts the rope, and the Twi'lek reappears on the bridge of his own ship again.  
>"SoE, take out the others."<br>"Aye."  
>Two more beams lance out, destroying the other two corvettes' engines. Warren spins around to face Azdarn. "Seems I took the job, now let's get food and talk about what's going on."<br>Azdarn grins knowing he found the right crew, "First, I want to pick up my stuff from storage back on the planet."  
>The little boy speaks up. "When Uncle Warren told us about this job, I checked the planet's networks to see if you had anything in storage, and when he said we took the job, and I beamed it up. So we can just go eat."<br>Azdarn loses count of how many times he has been shocked today, and just follows the crew off the bridge.

After everyone is done eating, Af and a few of the others get up to take care of the dishes while Felix heads to the bridge and Azdarn explains his situation.  
>"So this Hutt, an ugly one even as Hutts go, thinks he's going to pick up the pieces of Jabba's organization and use them for himself. He's got enough going that he can hunt me down, but most can't even remember his name. Anyways, his men 'saved' me once from a city parking fee, so he thinks he owns me. I was looking for something to do, so I helped run the legal side of his holdings, and got paid well for it. A few weeks ago, he told me to start working the other side of the law too, but I packed up and ran for it. Now I am on the run, and almost no one will take me where I want to go. Because when they see Chiss, they think of Thrawn. "<br>The older girl, kara, leans towards the captain and whispers something about that being an imperial admiral, so Azdarn adds how could they not know who that was to the list of things to wonder about later.  
>"Ah. That clears things up. Now what else do you need from us?"<br>"Well, there were a few partners I had on the legal side, I talked to them, and they want out too. One on Nar Shaddaa, one on Mon Cal, and one more that I last heard was on Cloud City. After that, the one on Nar Shaddaa has a house on Naboo where we can start a new life. It's your job to get us there alive. Think you and your ship can do it?"  
>Warren gets a grin. "We're going to try."<br>Warren turns and cups his hands around his mouth, "Ladies and Gents, grab the swimsuits and sunscreen, we're heading to Mon Cal!"  
>A chorus of hoots and yells make up the reply.<br>"Well that settles it." Next, he taps his earpiece, "Felix, make a jump to Mon Calamari if ya please."  
>The windows of the mess shift from showing stars to showing the purple glow of hyperspace.<br>"Done and done."


	9. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

In orbit over Dac, the water covered world better known as Mon Calamari, the crew of the Aries loads up the ships for the day on the planet. While most of the crew gets beach towels and swimming gear onto the Al'kesh, Warren, Alex, and Azdarn put guns and other weapons on to the Puddle Jumper.  
>Before take-off, they gather together to go over the plan one last time. Warren starts to speak as he pulls on his long coat, "So, all you guys are doing is enjoying a day at the beach, but keep an eye out. Enough people know of us that they could figure out who we are the moment they see our ships. Since you aren't taking any..." He sees both SoE and Bob tuck Zats into their packs, "Er...many weapons, I just want you to keep yourselves out of trouble."<br>Felix bounds up to Warren, "What are you up to then?"  
>"Well...we are going to go find Azdarn's friend, and if someone has them, we'll take 'em back."<br>"In that case... I have something for you." Felix nods to Caine, who taps a data pad, and four large pods get beamed to next to the Jumper's door. Three of them open, revealing what looks like Lantean suits that are missing their helmets. Piper is the first to point out that shortcoming,  
>"Where are the helmets?"<br>Felix pushes a blue button on the suit's arm, and a cowl much like that of a Jaffa Jackal guard deploys.  
>"These are custom made, rated for positive and negative pressures, have maneuvering thrusters for both vacuum and underwater, and are modular, allowing weapons, flight packs, and repulser-lifts to be attached and used. You can also use the normal fish-bowl helmets instead of the cowl, but I think the cowl is better for just a hint of psychological-warfare. Best of all, with modules removed, you can do this,"<br>He jumps up to tap a red switch on the neck of the suit, making it compress into just a vest with no helmet.  
>"All you have to do is put on the vest, tap the red one button on the chest, and you are pretty much wearing a tank. They even increase your speed, jumping distance, and strength. Oh, forgot, they are bullet proof and blaster resistant, and you can use a shield for a short period of time."<br>Everyone stares in shock, Azdarn more so than the rest. Alex, Bob, and SoE walk to the last of the pods and see a latch, "What's in here?"  
>The boy gets a smirk, "Weapons modules." They open the hatch and start to pull out all the goodies within. Blades, cannons, larger rifles, and chain guns are just a few of the items. They put it all back, close the weapons chest, then take it and the vests onto Wolf 12.<br>After the two ships launch, they set the Aries to cloak, and head to the water covered world below.

Upon stepping into The Moon Pool, a club on the floating city of Crystal Reef, Azdarn starts to  
>look around for old contacts from his time in the Hutt's organization. He spots Warren and Alex,<br>who came in before him and at different times from the each other so the three couldn't marked as one group easily. Warren nods from a booth covering two of the side doors, and Alex winks from a table covering the main door. Azdarn sits at the bar to order a drink, one that won't fog his  
>mind. When the bartender comes over, he starts to speak, probably to ask for an order, but recognizes Azdarn instantly.<br>"Why, if it isn't my old friend Raz'dar'naph. What can I get you?"  
>"Hey Dimja. Nice to see you. Can I get an iced caf?"<br>"Sure, on the house. Anything else?"  
>"Yea, looking for someone from Hitstal's crew. Just about anyone would do."<br>Dimja rubs his chin, then nodding to one side. "Yea, one of them is over by the window. Shifty looking one in a red jacket."  
>"Thanks." Azdarn picks up his glass and walks to the window, and Dimja calls after him, "Don't make a mess, Okay? Or at least don't make it a big one."<br>"I'll try."  
>Taking a seat at the table with the man in the red jacket, he smiles "Hello."<br>The man spills his drink once he sees Azdarn's blue skin and red eyes. "Who...who are..you?"  
>"Name's Azdarn. I'm looking for Mariana."<br>"Thought it was you. They said you were coming. They also locked her up here, and they want  
>me to tell ya if ya come back, she can stay with you."<br>"Or I could just take her."  
>"Oh yea, you against Hitstal's enforcers?"<br>"Me...and these kind people."  
>Two men sit on either side of the now terrified man, also wearing unsettling smiles.<br>"Hi, I'm Alex."  
>"And I am Warren. Seems you have one of Azdarn's friends."<br>"Yea, we do. And who are you?"  
>"Well, I am the captain of a ship called the Aries, and this is my hand to hand combat and small<br>arms expert."  
>The poor sniffing man slides off his chair with that, then waves an arm in the air. Azdarn yells "Down!" as the area gets pelted by a rain of blaster fire. All three reach in their coats and pull out weapons, Warren with a MP5, Alex with two P90s, and Azdarn with a blaster rifle. The crew members exchange fire with what seems to be the entire rest of the club, trying to come up with was to get out of there. Wolfe slides out from behind a table, fires a few rounds, and goes back into hiding to reload. "Could take out that big window and jump for it."<br>"No, have to fight our way out..."  
>the Chiss slides to them, firing to cover himself, and looks to the captain, "Welp, so much for not making a mess...Dimja's gonna be mad"<br>Warren looks back with face of confusion, "Huh?"  
>"Never mind. What's the plan?"<br>Alex pops up, fires, and gets behind cover again, "I say we get out of here."  
>Warren looks over, smacks the back of Alex's head, and says "No, really? You don't like the idea of being shot at? Who has the 'nades?"<br>Azdarn and Alex both show their coat lining, pockets filled with spare magazines and grenades.  
>"Well lads, time for some boom."<br>The humans trade P90s for MP5, freeing one of Alex's hands, then Azdarn and Alex both pull out Flashbang grenades, remove the pins, throws them over the table and cover their ears. After the explosion, they quickly rise, dragging the now unconscious from fright (or perhaps stray stun blast) man in the red jacket and sprint for the door, dispatching enemies and then close the door behind themselves.  
>They slowly walk down the hall, breathing heavily, with Azdarn and Alex holding up their prisoner and Warren covering the rear. Azdarn chuckles a bit and says, "You know, I've left bars twice that way since I met you. Starting to think you guys just have a way with people."<br>Alex pats his back, "Man, this one time on a smuggling station, we ended up having our people in four different cantinas get attacked at the same time. Seems someone..." he looks at his friend turned captain, "Told the wrong merc pilot that our fighters were better than his squadron's and they were already on a bounty for us. Planned to get us as we lifted off, but no, they blew early."  
>"Hey, will you shush about that already?"<br>"Probably not."  
>"Jerk..."<p>

The man in the hostage wakes up with a start, and looks around. After seeing he is in alone a small metal tube shaped room lined with seats on two sides and doors on either end, cuffed to one of the seats.  
>The now familiar Human and Chiss step through a door behind him, Azdarn sits to one side of him and Warren across from him.<br>He looks back and forth between them till the Captain speaks.  
>"What is your first name?"<br>Thinking he heard something else, he screams back "I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING, JUST DON'T HURT ME!" then realizing his error, which prompted a snort from Warren and a slack jawed stare from Azdarn, he clears his throat and calmly states "It's Tardon." Warren regains his straight face and calmly states, "Well Tardon, I'd rather not hurt you. Just want to ask you a few things, get some calm answers. If not...we may just have to let you walk out that door."  
>he points to the other door, which opens to reveal a shimmer that's a mix between that of water and lightning. And beyond that, the vastness of space, with a planet below.<br>"You see, we're on one of my ships. We are pretty much in a little universe that I control. You already stated your preferences...in a very, shall we say, lively manner. Just wanted to tell you in case you got funny ideas. Okay?" Tardon nods, visibly attempting to lean away from the exit. "Good. Now, I'm closing the door..." the hatch seals shut with a hiss, "...And now that we've set the proper mood, I am going to let Azdarn talk."  
>Azdarn glares at Tardon, "Where is Mariana?"<br>"She's in a sub-sea hovel. Has a few Qarrens guarding her. Very disagreeable ones too. It would take a small army to get her out of there."  
>Azdarn grins, "Well, I happen to be with one. Do you know where the hovel is?"<br>"Yea, I can show you on a map. It's not far down either, sitting on a high shelf. Just, if it doesn't work out for you people, don't come looking for me. I'm warning you, it'll be hard."  
>Azdarn nods. "We know."<br>They have him mark on a map where she is being held, and Tardon looks up at them,  
>"I wouldn't mind being taken prisoner by you guys. You seem like good people. Tell you what, all this makes me think I'm on the wrong side of things," he hands Alex a small data card, "that's all my contact info. Call me if you need anything. And, umm...mind putting somewhere safe?"<br>"Not at all. Sit please, so you don't fall." Warren pulls out a Zat, and Tardon sits down with a smile. "Bye for now"  
>Warren shoots him. "Where should we put him?"<br>Azdarn stands up, "I say we leave him in some hallway down on Crystal Reef. Maybe just a docking bay. Over all a nice guy. A nut, but nice." they move back to the cockpit as the ship flies down to the planet below, a few miles above the water world.

Down on the planet, the rest of the crew is enjoying some much needed vacation. Piper, Kara, and Felix play in beach area of a large water park, while Af, SoE, Bob, and Mularac use the deeper pools. When they stop for lunch, all gathered at a table and start eating the local food, made from the wonderful resources of the sea. The other team calls in to say they know where Azdarn's friend is, and they should have her shortly.  
>Warren's voice comes on, "Hey, you should probably be heading back to the Al'kesh pretty soon. Once we have Azdarn's friend, we'll need to get out of here quick. And be ready for some fighting while we bring her up, they will know the Aries when they see it."<br>Bob, Piper and SoE all give slight nods. Kara grabs the radio, "Alright, good luck. We'll see you back at the ship."  
>"Yea, same to you."<br>She turns off the comm, and looks at Felix,  
>"How long will it take to get Aries back here?"<br>"Not long. If we call it as we take off, should be waiting up there for us."  
>"Alright. Once we're in the hangar, I want 302's ready to take off and assist the Jumper if needed. How about half hour more of swimming, then we get any supplies, and head up. That work for everyone?"<br>Nods from everyone.  
>"That's the plan. Now, Felix, I am going to read a bit, you stay with the other grownups, okay? I'll be right here."<br>He smiles and heads to the water, "Yes ma'am."  
>The rest of the crew follows him as Kara pulls out a data pad with a few books loaded on it, leaning back against her chair, looking over the rolling surf...<p>

_**[And so ends the last of the "old stuff." More story will be written when I can, hopefully with less errors and longer chapters. Or would you rather they stay about this length? Lemme know,**_

_**Okami taicho, over and out~]**_


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